Different kind of hero
by adorable baby dinosaur
Summary: After the war Harry decides to go to stanford where he meets Sam Winchester and becomes close friends. after Jessica dies Harry tells Sam & Dean who he is and decides to help them find their father, while falling for one of the brothers. rating may change
1. Prologue: A New Start

The war was finally over. All of Harry's training put into good use. Voldemort was dead. Harry Was now 20 and had decided to take a long awaited break and go to muggle college in America. He knew he would be 1 or 2 years older than most everyone else but being outside the norm hasn't bothered him in a long time now.

Harry didn't have much left for him in England anyways. The few friends who had survived the long War didn't need him there. He would only be a floo call away. Now he was at the airport saying goodbye to his honorary godfather and his godson. Remus now had to raise teddy on his own since Tonks died in the final battle, but he assured harry he would call if he needed anything. Harry also said goodbye to the twins, the last of the Weasley family and made them promise they would send updates on their new merchandise. Finally Harry said goodbye to a tearful Hermione.

"Love you sis. We'll make it through, you'll see." Harry told her. Hermione could only nod and kissed him on the cheek. Harry climbed on board and seated himself getting ready to go to Stanford and start his new life as James Evans Black; college student.


	2. Ch 1: Meet Dean

Harry knocked on the door of his best friend's dorm. He'd been at the college for three years now and this is the first year that he's lived with someone other than Sam Winchester. Sam had decided to move in with his girlfriend Jess after Harry had pushed him to it. It was sweet; Harry thought that he had brought people together for once instead of tearing them apart through death.

Harry knew it rationally wasn't his fault but he couldn't help but feel if he had killed old Voldie sooner than more of his friends would live and be happy couples. _Oh well,_ He thought _At least they're all happy now._ Harry was about to knock again when Jessica opened the door looking very sexy in a nurse outfit.

"Hello, love." He said to her. "Going to the dance then?" He asked.

Yeah I'm just getting Sam ready." She looked at his casual attire. "Are you not going?" She asked.

Harry shook his head. "You know me, never liked Halloween much. Anyways I was wondering if you could graciously allow me to kip here for the night, Johnny kicked me out of the dorm for the night, he has it in his head that he's going to get lucky." Harry laughed.

Sam came in from his bedroom. "It's no problem, James. If you don't mind the couch." He said.

"Not at all." Harry made his way to the couch and ungracefully sat down.

"You sure you don't want to come?" Sam asked hopeful that he wouldn't have to go on his own.

"Mate, you know I don't like Halloween." Even after three years Harry hadn't bothered to change his accent.

"Alright, man. Well I guess we'll head out then. Goodnight." Sam called heading towards the door. He knew never to push why his friend hated Halloween. It was obvious James was keeping his past from him but Sam couldn't blame him. After all, James isn't the only one with secrets.

.:~0~:.

It was late, Sam and Jess were asleep in their room while Harry was fast asleep on the couch. Harry heard a clicking noise and his eyes snapped open. Too many years of war made sure Harry never lost his training. If Moody could he would've made sure Harry slept with both eyes open, instead had to settle for making Harry a very light sleeper.

The door closed and Harry could see a man make his way through the dark. Not sure as to whether this man knew magic or not Harry decided to leave his wand in the holster on his arm and make a physical attack. The men fought for a minute and Harry just pinned the man before the light flicked on.

"James? Dean?" Sam asked looking at his best friend who had his big brother pinned to the floor, he would've laughed if it weren't for his curiosity. Both men looked up.

"You know him?" They asked at the same time. Harry sounded relieved and Dean sounded slightly irritated.

Though relieved, Harry didn't dare move until he knew for sure this wasn't some trick. "Yeah," Sam said. "He's my brother."

"Well in that case." Harry stood up and pulled Dean to his feet. He held out his hand with a smile. "James Black, Sam's good friend. Nice to meet you." Dean took the hand cautiously.

"Dean. Where'd you learn to fight like that?" He asked. He wanted to make sure his brother wasn't in harm's way.

Harry looked Dean dead in the eye. "England. Had a bully problem there."

Dean looked skeptic. "Bullies? You learn to fight because of a bully problem?"

Harry's lips quirked up in a small smile. "Right buggers, they were." Sam decided to interrupt.

"What the hell are you doing here, Dean?" He asked.

Dean gave a cocky smile, Harry's breath hitched for a moment. "Is that how you welcome your big brother after three years? You sic your best friend on him-" "You could've knocked." Harry murmured. Dean ignored him. "And asked what he's doing here? No hug? No beer?" Harry scoffed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked again, getting a little defensive. Harry moved in between in case a fight broke out.

"Okay, man, we gotta talk." Dean said, becoming serious. Jess came in then.

"Sam? James? What's going on?" She asked, sleep evident in her eyes.

James decided to answer. "This is Sam's brother Dean who decided to make an early morning call." He said. Dean looked confused.

"I didn't make a call." Dean said.

Harry looked at Sam in mock horror. "Don't tell he's a blonde."

Sam laughed, Dean looked irritated. Jess took pity on him. "He's British, it's what they say." She said with a small smile.

"Stupid Brits." Dean muttered.

"Oi! I'm not the one that made myself look like an idiot, am I?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Okay this is all nice and cozy here but I need to borrow Sam for a moment if that's alright." Harry was about to say sure but Sam beat him.

"No. No. Whatever you wanna say, you can say it in front of them." Sam said.

Dean thought for a moment. "Okay, umm… Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days." Sam looked shocked.

"Guy's, excuse us, we have to go outside." Sam grabbed Dean by the arm and made his way out the door.

Jess looked at Harry. "What do you think that was about?" She asked, the worry clear in their voice.

"No idea, I'm sure Sam will be fine. How about some hot chocolate?" He asked. Jess nodded. _Maybe I'll add a drop of calming drought_. He thought to himself as he went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate.

.:~0~:.

"I mean come on; you can't just break in, in the middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you." Sam said as soon as he was out of earshot. Dean started leading the way towards his car.

"You're not hearing me Sammy. Dad's missing; I need you to help me find him." Dean said.

"You remember the poltergeist in Amherst, or the devil's gates in Clifton? He was missing then too, he's always missing and he's always fine." Sam said, not sure if he was trying to convince Dean or himself.

"Not for this long." Dean stopped and turned to face his brother. "Now you gonna come with me or not?"

"I'm not" Sam said defiantly.

"Why not?" Dean asked. More like demanded.

"I swore I was done hunting for good." Sam said.

"Come on, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad."

Sam chuckled mirthlessly. "Yeah? When I told dad when I was scared of the thing in my closet he gave me a .45."

"Well what was he supposed to do?" Dean asked confused.

"I was 9 years old. He was supposed to say 'Don't be afraid of the dark.'" Sam exclaimed. It was getting hard to convince Dean.

"Don't be afraid of the dark? What are you kidding me of course you should be afraid of the dark! You know what's out there!"

"Yeah I know but still-- the way we grew up after mom was killed, and dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her, but we still haven't found the damn thing, so we kill everything we can find-" Dean cut him off.

"Save a lot of people doing it, too."

"You think mom would have wanted this for us? The weapon training and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors." Sam said, exasperated now.

"So, what are you gonna do? You just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?" Sam thought he saw a trace of hurt in Dean's face, but it was gone half a second later.

"No. Not normal. Safe" Sam replied calmly. Dean turned and walked the rest of the way to his car, Sam followed. Neither realized their whole conversation was heard by one Harry Potter.

.:~0~:.

Sam came in and headed straight for his room. The two who were in the kitchen followed close behind and watched as he started to pack.

"Wait you're taking off? Is this about your dad? Is he all right?" Jess asked. Harry knew if he hadn't given her a calming drought earlier she'd be near hysterics with her worry.

"Yeah, you know, just a little family drama." Sam tried to shrug it off as nothing but Harry heard most of the conversation outside.

"But your brother said he was on some kind of a hunting trip." Harry added, his voice tinged with suspicion.

Sam stiffened slightly then relaxed a moment later. "Aw yeah, he's just deer hunting up at the cabin and he's probably got Jim, Jack, and Jose along with him. We're just gonna go bring him back." Sam said trying to keep his tone light.

"What about the interview?" Jess asked. She could always tell when would be a good time to change the topic a bit.

Sam gave her a light kiss then went for the door. "I'll make the interview. This is only for a couple of days."

"Sam, I mean, please, just stop for a second. You sure you're okay?" Jess asked.

Sam took a steadying breath. "I'm fine."

"Jess why don't you get another cup of cocoa?" Harry asked, looking at Sam. Sam knew his friend wanted to talk, and he also knew that he was stubborn, there'd be no way out of any question he wanted to ask. Jess looked between the two and nodded, knowing James wanted to talk to his best friend. She went to the kitchen.

Harry walked up to Sam and said quietly, "I know you don't have time now but I think when Monday comes it's time for both of us to share a bit about our past selves. I won't lie if you don't. Be safe. I want Jess to still have a boyfriend when Monday comes." Harry backed off and gave a small smile and turned to follow Jess into the kitchen.

Still confused, Sam turned and went to meet Dean at the car.

.:~0~:.

After Harry was sure Jess was asleep he went over to the rucksack he brought everywhere with him. He pulled out his new Mirror Remus had given him for his birthday. Before doing anything he looked at the clock. It was four AM. He counted eight hours ahead. It should just be noon in England. He looked in the mirror and whispered, "Remus Lupin."

The face in the mirror changed to that of his Godfather. "Harry! How are you cub? Isn't it still early where you're at?" Remus asked confused. Harry put a finger to his lips for Remus to be quiet. "Sorry." Remus whispered.

"It's okay, moony. Do you remember me telling you about my friend Sam?" Remus nodded. "Well he has a brother and I heard them talking earlier. I think they may be hunters." Remus' eyebrows shot up.

"Are you safe?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, they don't know about me and I've never given Sam reason to suspect I was anything but a muggle. Remus, what do you know of the Winchesters?" Remus' eyes widened comically, Harry couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

"Harry, this is serious. The Winchesters a family of hunters and they are the best of the best. The father, John I believe, has hunted more than any other hunter in his generation, and his Sons are following in his footsteps. Though I do believe that they've never intentionally harmed anyone or thing innocent. Especially the younger. From what I heard he had a bit of a fight with his family about going to college." Remus looked hard at Harry when he noticed his relieved face. "You're going to tell him, aren't you? About your past?"

Harry nodded. "I think it's only fair, if I want information from him I have to give my own. Don't worry, I won't give out locations or any other names unless they already know it. Anyways I'm going back to sleep, say hi to everyone and tell Teddy I love him." Remus gave a warm smile.

"Will do. You be careful, cub. I love you." With that the mirror turned back to its normal self, reflecting Harry's tired face. Harry put the mirror back in his bag and went back to sleep.

.:~0~:.

**AN: Love it? Hate it? Let me know.**


	3. Ch 2: A Death and a Life

Harry's weekend was spent keeping Jess calm and reassuring her that Sam was fine. On Sunday Harry helped Jessica make a welcome home dinner for Sam after which Jess said that she'd be fine for the rest of the day. Harry didn't want to impose on the couple when Sam got back but he had a bad feeling about leaving her alone. Instead of staying there though, Harry made a ward around the dorm to tell him if Jessica got hurt. That was the strongest ward he was able to make with no one seeing what he was doing. Any stronger and the ward would glow for a minute before becoming invisible and with that so many students around he couldn't take the chance of wizards and witches being found out just for a bad feeling. Instead he'd just have to stay near the house and hope that's enough.

Later that night Harry was walking near the street and he saw Dean's Impala pull into the student parking lot. He saw Sam get out and head to his dorm. He looked tired but happy to be home. Just as he entered the ward went off. Harry ran to the building and just as he got in he heard Sam yell and he felt a burst of heat. He ran into the room, not noticing Dean right behind him.

"Sam!" They both yelled.

"Jess!" Sam yelled.

"Let's get him out of here!" Harry yelled. Dean and Sam ran to grab Sam. When Sam almost fell over they each grabbed an arm and made their way out. Harry knew the room would probably burst in flame any second. He sent a small burst of his magic to hold it off until they got outside. Then the place blew up in flames when Harry thought they were a safe distance away.

They brought Sam to the car and Dean rounded on Harry. "How'd you know what was happening?" He asked harshly.

"Dean." Sam protested weakly

"Who are you?" Dean went on, ignoring his brother.

Harry calmly looked him in the eye. "Not here. There's a small diner five or so blocks from here, my treat. I'll follow on my bike." Before Dean could argue Harry got on his red and black motor bike he got from Sirius when he died. He straddled the bike and put his helmet on. Then he waited.

Dean got into his car and slammed the door shut. When Sam got in he made his way to the diner, Sam quietly giving him directions. Dean didn't trust James but Sam said they've been best friends for three years so he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He hoped James was a good guy if only cause Sam shouldn't lose anyone else. _Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that you hope to get to know him and his body too, right?_ His inner voice taunted. Dean decided to ignore the voice and act like he was only hoping for Sammy's sake.

They got to the diner and Dean was surprised that James was still behind him. He'd have thought he'd run away. Not that he wouldn't be able to track him down, but that wasn't the point. They went in and got a small booth in the corner. They each gave their order and when the waitress left Harry had two pairs of eyes on him.

Harry took in a soothing breath. "ok, what do you guys know about wizards?" Dean looked confused, so Sam answered. He was really hoping his friend wasn't evil.

"Not much." Sam admitted. "I know there are certain types of witches and wizards who were actually born with magic rather than making deals to get magic. And there was a war going on in Europe. Some guy thought wizards should rule, but he was nothing more than a megalomaniac. He was defeated about three or four years ago by a young wizard named Harry Potter. He was considered the savior of the wizarding world, and the richest wizard alive. They called him the boy-who-lived." Harry sneered at the name he was given from birth.

"Well that's a creative name." Dean said. Harry snorted. "So what does any of this have to do with you?"

Harry took another breath. "I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Harry James Potter. Also known as Lord Potter-Black, the boy-who-lived and the man-who-defeated-you-know-who. Ridiculous title, I know. I didn't come up with it." Harry added when Dean snorted in amusement of his last title.

"So who's James Evans Black?" Sam asked. Harry's eyes softened when he could see the hurt in Sam's eyes and felt a huge pang of guilt for both lying about his name and not saving Jessica on time.

"James was my father's first name, Evans was my mother's maiden name. Black was the last name of my late Godfather." They stopped talking when the waitress brought them their food. Harry and Dean dug in. "Sam you have to eat." Harry said when he saw his best mate not touching his food. Soon they finished and they all ordered coffee. Harry took a sip of his and leaned back. "This is going to take a while. I'm going to tell you everything about my past up until I started at Stanford."

******** **Harry starts life story… nothing you don't already know until the last 2 paragraphs of the story.**

Harry took a second to organize his thoughts, and started. "I was born July 31st, 1980 in Godric's Hollow, England to Lily and James Potter. It was during the first wizard's war at Voldemort's peak in his rise to power. You see, in the wizarding world we don't have the type of racism you do. We have our own type. We have purebloods, who don't have any non-magical people in their blood lines. We have half-blood which are people with either one magical and one non-magical parent or one magical and one who is called a muggle-born. A muggle-born is someone who has no magical parents. Now Voldemort was what we called a pureblood supremacist. He wanted to wipe out all muggle-borns and muggles, and basically use half-bloods as slaves, or" Harry took a breath, "Toys." The looks on the brother's faces were of pure disgust.

"Well when I was a baby there was a prophecy made of me and him. My parents went into hiding when they found out that he was going after me to kill me. They went under what's called a fidelius charm which means only the secret-keeper and those that the secret-keeper tells would know where the house is. My parents chose one of their best friends, not knowing that he was a death eater, a follower of Voldemort, and he told old Voldie. Voldemort went to my parent's house on October 31st." Harry saw understanding pass over Sam's face. He gave Sam a small smile. "My dad tried to hold him off so my mother could take me and go. Voldemort killed him shortly and went to find my mother upstairs in the nursery. She begged Voldemort to take her instead. She would've lived if she just let him kill me." Harry closed his eyes feeling the pain that always came he thought about that night. Even without dementors around he could hear her.

Harry felt a hand on his and looked up to see Sam encouraging him to go on. "He got tired of her so he killed her, using the Avada Kedavra. The killing curse. There's no shield to block it, if it hits you, your dead. Or so they believed. Both my parents gave the ultimate sacrifice, giving their life up for mine. When Voldemort tried to kill me the curse rebounded and hit him. Forcing his soul out of his body. A piece of his soul went into my body so I had a few traits that he did as well. Anyways after that mess I was brought to my only living relatives, the Dursleys. My mother's sister and her husband and son. They were some of the worst sort of muggles. They hated magic and tried to squash it out of me. For ten years my bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. Until I finally got my letter to go to the best school of witchcraft and wizardry in Europe.

Basically my years there were like this; I made seeker for my house quidditch team (I'll explain quidditch later) making me the youngest team member in a century. I had my best friend Ron and after fighting a troll on Halloween I became best friends with Hermione as well. From then on we made the best team the school had seen in a long time. Hermione was the researcher, she could find just about anything. Ron was the strategist, no one has ever beaten him in chess and I was the one who jumped in without looking and fought till the end. Of course we each helped each other out with the other areas but that was our strong point."

At this point both brothers were in awe. "Anyways at the end of my first year Hermione Ron and I had to go through a sort of obstacle course to save the philosophers stone from Voldemort. In the end I faced Voldie on my own and killed my teacher who was possessed by him. Second year I found I could talk to snakes, which is thanks to Voldie and at the end of the year Ron and I found the chamber of secrets, there was a small cave in that separated Ron and I and I had to go on to fight Voldie's memory in a diary and kill a basilisk with a sword that belonged to one of the founders of the school. I returned with Ron's sister, who was being possessed in a different way, and we got out of the chamber for another summer.

"The next year, there was a supposed mass murderer after me who turned out to be my godfather trying to kill Peter Pettigrew, the true traitor. We captured the rat but since it was a full moon and my teacher, who forgot to take a potion to let him keep his mind, turned into a werewolf and Peter transformed into a rat and got away. My godfather was caught and Hermione and I had to go back in time to save a hippogriff, save my godfather from a hundred dementors, vile creatures, and send him on the run with the hippogriff.

"My fourth year there was a tri-wizard tournament, I was illegally entered by a death eater pretending to be my teacher, had to get an egg from a dragon, rescue my friend from merpeople and make it through a maze filled with all kinds of things and charms. Me and the other Hogwarts champion took the cup at the same time and were port keyed away to a graveyard. Cedric was killed right away, Voldie was reborn, I had to fight him and bring Cedric's body back to the tournament. During my fifth year we had a toad for a teacher and not many people believed me when I said Voldie was back. I was lured into a trap, my godfather was killed and in the end the headmaster finally showed me the prophecy.

**********Things start to get different**

"Sixth year the headmaster told me all he knew about Voldemort and how he had split his soul into seven trying to become immortal. At the end of the year death eaters infiltrated the school, Dumbledore was killed and one of our spies was thought traitor. When I was 17 I started training. I learned constant vigilance from someone with a bad case of paranoia, I learned hand-to-hand combat from my honorary godfather who is the werewolf from my third year."

The brothers tensed and Harry added, "He has never turned someone and has only killed in the final battle like everyone else." They relaxed only slightly. "We found out our spy was still on our side and he taught me all the potions I would need to know. I learned to duel with all three of those men, and even three against one. I also learned wandless magic and I learned to turn into an animal from my transfiguration teacher and I played chess for an hour every day until I could beat half the people I was living with. This went on until I turned 19. At 19 I went to find all pieces of Voldie's soul and thanks to the extensive training I destroyed them all. The day I turned 20 was the day of the final battle. That day I killed Voldemort and many of his followers but I lost much more. Of all my friends and family I had Hermione, Remus and his son Teddy (who is my godson) and the twins, Ron's prankster brothers. I needed to leave. I lost so much I couldn't stand being there any longer so I came here." Harry finished the last of his coffee, paid the bill and went to get some fresh air.

.:~0~:.

**AN: Love it? Hate it? Let me know.**


	4. Ch 3: At the Hotel

Dean looked at Sam. They were both speechless, until Dean broke the silence. "Holy shit, Dude."

Sam looked at his brother with disbelieving eyes. "That's all you can say?" Sam looked out the window to his friend. "I can't believe we've been friends almost four years and I never would have guessed that he was Harry Potter." Dean looked over at his brother.

"Why's that?" Dean was curious as to how Sam had missed it. They were both taught to see anything and everything supernatural. Though there never was much against wizards, Their dad always said they are basically like them. Some good, some bad difference is their natural magic.

"Harry Potter is one of the richest men in Britain including wizards and humans, he is a savior to little under half the world's population and, though he hasn't said anything, he is the most powerful wizard since Merlin. The Harry I know and have been friends with does and has nothing flashy except that motor bike that he told me his godfather gave him when he was 15. That must've been the one who died."

"Yeah you'd think a guy with that much money and power would show it off or something. This guys unbelievable." Dean said with awe. "Let's go talk with him." Dean and Sam stood up and made their way outside the diner to talk to Harry.

"Hey," Sam said. "So what are you going to do now?" Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he looked to Sam.

"I guess you're not going back to school?" Sam shook his head. "Right, well I don't know then. I don't think I'll go back either, no fun without you and…" Harry couldn't bring himself to say the name of his other close friend.

"Well, you can't give up your education just cause I'm not there." Sam said. He didn't want to be the reason for Harry to lose his education.

"Really, Sam, I don't need it." Harry assured.

"Why not?" Dean asked. Harry looked at him and smiled.

"You heard what I said in the diner. I'm the bloody savior, I could do almost anything I want in the wizarding world." Dean could hear the bitterness in Harry's voice. "I went to school for a vacation. I'm ready for something new."

"You don't seem so happy to be able to get any job." Dean stated.

"I'd rather do something for talent rather than reputation, and without all the fans. My talent is mostly in my fighting. That's what I'm really good at. Maybe I'll start hunting evil things like you two, you don't get too much recognition, you can blend in but still do a lot of good."

"Why don't you come with us?" Dean asked. Sam looked at his brother in surprise, but when he saw the hope there he started to think on it. He looked to Harry to see what he was thinking.

"Yeah, we could use your help and you could use our expertise." Sam encouraged.

Harry thought about it. "Alright, but I need to get a few things from my dorm. Not much, just a couple of clothes, and choice weapons."

"Alright, we'll meet you there." Dean said. "Then you can stay in the car with us." Harry nodded, started up his bike and left. Sam watched his brother look at Harry until he disappeared around the corner.

Sam smirked. "You like him." Dean looked at Sam and stuttered.

"Wha-what? Who? Harry? No! Not at all! Not in that way."

Sam gave a small chuckle and got into the impala. "Come on, let's go meet up with your crush." Dean ignored him and drove away to the campus.

.:~0~:.

When the brothers got there they saw Harry with a backpack beside his bike. Harry was looking around to make sure he couldn't see or sense anyone there. There was no one but the brothers so he wandlessly shrunk his bike and went over to the stunned faces of his friends and climbed in the back.

"Dude, that was some cool bit of magic." Dean said. Sam saw Harry blush and thought maybe his brother had a chance to settle down with someone while still doing what he loves.

"Uhh.. thanks." Harry said. "Why don't we go to a hotel and get some rest, we can hit the road or do whatever in the morning." All three men were looking at the clock and noticed it was around midnight.

"Um, is there a motel or something cheap around here?" Dean asked hesitantly.

"I'm too tired to try and find one, look, I'll pay for the night, then we can discuss money and identities or anything tomorrow." Harry said as he yawned.

"Alright." Sam said. Not really liking using his friends money, but not having much of a choice. They headed to the hotel and Harry paid with his credit card that linked directly to his bank account in gringotts. They went in to find two beds and a couch that wasn't pull out.

"Oops, forgot to ask for a pull out. No matter, I'm the shortest, I'll take the couch." Harry said. And before either of the other boys could say anything Harry was on the couch fast asleep.

Dean watched him go to sleep. "Man he really is tired." He whispered.

"Telling his life story must be draining." Sam said. "Goodnight Dean." Dean went his own bed, said goodnight and was soon lulled to sleep by Harry and Sam's soft breathing.

.:~0~:.

The next morning the boys on the bed woke to the smell of coffee. Harry smiled as he poured himself a cup. "Good morning. Made some coffee." Harry sat at the small table in their hotel room. "Shall we talk about what you want to do?" Harry asked. Dean tried to find the clock, after no success he decided to ask.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"7:00" Harry said with a morning.

Sam fell back. "Forgot you were a morning person, what time did you wake up?" He asked.

"Five" Dean looked at Harry shocked.

"You always up that early?" He asked.

Harry nodded. "It's what happens when you play my kind of roll in a war. You get too paranoid to sleep much." He paused. "Although I suppose it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you. Any way now it's a habit I can't get rid of, no matter how hard I try I can't sleep in past five."

"Jeez that's gotta suck." Dean muttered. Harry shrugged.

"So, what are we going to do?"

Sam looked up. "I want to search around campus, see if the demon is still there." Harry looked up from his copy.

"You sure it was a demon?" Sam nodded.

"It was the same on that killed our mom when Sam was six months old" The three boys were silent for a moment.

"I can do a sensing." Harry said quietly.

Dean looked confused. "A what?"

"A sensing. I'm the only wizard left powerful enough to do it over the campus. I would sense out for any supernatural creatures, and if this demon is a powerful one then it shouldn't take more than five minutes to locate if he's still on campus. If you'd like to come then if we do find it we could fight it, or at least find out what it's doing. What do you say?"

Sam leapt off the bed. "Let's get changed and go, who knows how long he'll be there if he's still in the area.

The men changed and Harry apparated the three of them to a secluded corner of the campus. Dean stumbled and would've stumbled if Harry didn't keep holding him. "You guys ok?" He asked with a smile. He knew how it felt the first time you got through it. And it wasn't pleasant.

"Son of a bitch, I don't want to do that again." Dean said. Harry smiled even wider.

"Ok well I'm going to do it so just wait for five minutes. You said he's powerful, right?" Sam nodded neither men letting go of Harry yet, Though now Dean was sure he could stand on his own, he didn't really want to.

Harry closed his eyes and took deep breaths. After about 3 minutes Harry opened his eyes. "Sorry, he's not here. He left last night." Sam closed his eyes in a small defeat. "Alright, I'm going to bring us back to the hotel, ready?" The men nodded and held tighter onto Harry's arm.

They apparated to the hotel room and Harry laid them down on their beds. He gave them a minute to collect themselves and when they both sat up Harry spoke again. "Tell me what you know about the demon."

"he's got yellow eyes, he's powerful, the way he killed Jess is the same way he killed our mom so he's probably killed others that way too. That's about it. Dad's got most of the research." Dean said. Harry nodded and thought it over.

"That should be enough to get a name at least. I'm going to contact my friend Hermione, see if she can research this demon in her spare time. That'll give us time to try and find your dad. Do you guys mind if she tries to find him?" He asked them.

The men looked at each other, Dean shrugged and Sam answered. "I don't know how much she'll find, we haven't found much in the past 22 years." Harry waved his answer off.

"She's a war hero in my world, she has access to any library in Europe and she's already been through most. Don't worry she'll probably find something, even if it's a small thing. Everything helps. I'm a believer in knowing thine enemy. And if all else fails she'll have something to do. Now, I need a fireplace." Harry looked around the room for something he could turn into a fire place while Sam and Dean shared bemused looks.

Finally Harry just levitated the table against a wall and transfigured it into a fireplace. Harry then went to his backpack and took out a container that looked to have quite a bit of shiny green powder in it. Harry took a pinch and threw it into the fire place. Green flames shot up and before the brothers could stop him Harry stuck his head in the flames. "Number nine Page place." Harry said in the fire. To the brother's amazement they could hear what sounded like a one-sided conversation.

"you sure you want to? This'll take no time. Alright." Harry came back out and a moment later a pretty brunette girl came out of the fire place.

She dusted her clothes of and looked up at the shocked faces. She rounded on Harry.

"Harry! You didn't tell them about the floo, did you? You could've had the decency to mention it before using it." Harry looked at the guys with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry." He said. Hermione looked at him. Then proceeded to crush him with a hug. "Can't… breathe… 'Mione… Help!" Both guys behind laughed and Hermione turned around and blushed.

"Hello there." She said with confidence, despite the emotional display. She held out her hand, first to Sam. "Hermione Granger." She said. Sam Shook her hand.

"Sam Winchester." He said. She turned to Dean.

"His brother, Dean." He said.

"'Mione, I need a favor." Harry asked. She turned and looked at him with hope for something to do.

"I hope it's good, it's been dreadfully boring at the ministry. They just think I'm a trophy." She said angrily.

Harry's eyebrows went up. "They have the smartest witch in their hands and their not using this to their advantage?" Hermione blushed at the compliment and shook her head. "I knew there was a reason I didn't like them." Hermione snorted. The two other men felt like they just missed an inside joke. "Anyway I need you to find me something on a Demon." Hermione immediately perked up.

"What have you got?" She asked.

"Not much," Harry admitted. "He's got yellow eyes, he's powerful and the most distinct thing would be he's killed at least two people we know of by pinning them to the ceiling before they caught fire." Hermione's hand went to her mouth.

"That's horrible." She said. "I'll get on it right away." She hugged Harry good bye, said bye to the brothers and left in a hurry.

"I see what you mean about finding anything. She looked like she hit the jackpot when you told her you wanted her to research." Dean said as Harry put the room back to normal.

"Yeah. By the way, sorry I forgot to mention about the floo network, I'm just so used to it I forgot I'd need to explain it. If it's any consolation I found out about it when I was 12 by seeing a floating head in the fire." Harry shuddered. "Now that is a weird sight."

.:~0~:.

The men packed everything up and sat to talk about their money and where they should look for their dad next.

"Well for the money, we can use my card. It's linked directly to my bank account and I can keep changing the name on the card so they can't track us." Before Sam or Dean could protest, Harry added, "If you don't like using my money, you can pay me back, but with this we at least have one thing legal. And besides, if we ever get in trouble with the state we can use money without being traced." After a bit of persuasion the brothers agreed it would be the smarter choice.

They started talking about where they should go when Sam's phone went off. "Hey guys, I just got a text from dad." Sam said

"Well what'd he say?" Dean asked anxiously.

"They're coordinates." Sam said.

.:~0~:.


	5. Ch 4: Wendigo

While Sam was sleeping and Harry was distracted with the scenery, Dean stole glances to the green eyed beauty in the backseat through his rearview mirror. _I wonder if I have a chance with him._ Dean thought._ If I do I don't want to mess it up. Maybe I'll ask Sammy._ Dean mentally snorted. "That'd go well." He said under his breath. He mentally winced when he realized he spoke out loud but thanks to the music, Harry didn't hear anything. Or so he hoped. All of a sudden Sam jerked awake.

"You okay?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine" He said leaning back into his seat. Dean nodded.

Harry asked, "Another nightmare?"

Sam cleared his throat, Dean took that as a cue to change the subject.

"You wanna drive for a while?" He asked Sam. Sam laughed.

"In your whole life, you never once asked me that." Sam said. In the rearview Dean could see Harry lift an eyebrow, something he picked up from being under constant tutelage from Snape.

"I just thought you might want to, never mind." Dean muttered.

Sam sighed. "Look guys, you're worried about me, I get it and thank you but I'm perfectly okay."

Dean just hmmed and Harry leant back into his seat and rolled his eyes.

"Alright, where are we?" Sam asked, desperate to move to a new topic that didn't have to do with his well being.

"We are just outside of Grand Junction." Dean answered.

Sam looked at the map. "Hey, do you think maybe we left Stanford too soon?" Sam asked.

"Sam, we did what we could, but there's nothing left there. If you want to find the thing that killed Jessica quickly…" Dean trailed off.

"We find dad." Sam said in a resigned tone.

"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence. Dad will have answers; he'll know what to do." Dean said matter-of-factly. Harry could tell Dean had a lot of respect for his dad. It reminded Harry of the blinding respect he held for Dumbledore up until fifth year, when Dumbledore lost Harry's faith to do everything and save everyone.

"It's weird man. These coordinates he left us, this Blackwater Ridge." Sam started

"What about it?" Dean asked.

Harry was looking over Sam's shoulder at the map and answered before Sam could "There's nothing there," He said. "it's just woods. Why would he send you to the middle of nowhere?" He looked at Dean.

"Don't know." They kept driving and finally passed a sign that said 'Welcome to Lost Creek, Colorado.'

They drove up to a building that looked like a visitor's center.

"So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place." Sam said as they walked into the building. Dean and Harry spotted a picture of a huge bear on the wall.

"Dude, check out the size of this freakin bear." Dean said to Sam.

"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike that's for sure." Sam finished.

A Ranger came through the door. "You boys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" he asked.

"Oh no sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper." Sam told him quickly.

"Recycle, man." Dean said. Harry elbowed him lightly, and Dean mock scowled while Harry smiled innocently.

"Bull." The ranger said. Sam glared at Dean. "You're friends with that Hailey girl right?" He asked.

Harry decided to step in. "Yes we are, ranger Wilkinson." He said charmingly.

"Well I will tell you exactly what we told her." Ranger Wilkinson said. "Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater till the 24th, so it's not exactly a missing persons now is it?" Dean shook his head. "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine."

"We will." Harry assured him.

"Actually you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit you know so she could see her brothers return date." Dean said.

The three boys walked out of the area Dean smiling widely. "That was too easy." He said quietly so no one would hear. Harry chuckled.

"What are you cruising for a hook-up or something?" Sam asked, irritated. He barely noticed Harry's head snap up and glare at nothing in particular.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, confused. In all honesty he hadn't really thought much about any other men or women since meeting Harry. _Is that good or bad?_ He asked himself before remembering the conversation.

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge so what are we waiting for, let's just go find dad. I mean why even talk to this girl?" Sam asked.

It was Harry that replied this time. "I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking in to before we actually walk into it."

"What?" Sam asked. He was almost sounding like Dean.

"Well since when are you all shoot first ask questions later anyway?" Dean snapped.

"Since now." Sam said with conviction.

"Oh, Really?" Dean asked skeptically.

They got in the car and drove to the girl's house. The ride there was quiet and a little uncomfortable. Just before they got to the drive way Dean pulled over to the side of the road and turned to Harry.

"Can you make us fake ID's?" He asked. Harry shrugged.

"As what?" Harry asked.

"We're going in as park rangers." Harry thought for a second.

"Ok, I'll make two for you guys and I'll go in with my invisibility cloak. I'll hang on to your arm when we go inside so you know that I'm through the door." Harry said as he went through his pack. Dean smiled.

"Perfect." He said. Sam rolled his eyes, knowing he was just starting to flirt with his friend. Harry flushed a little but found the cloak. Then he conjured to pieces of ID for Sam and Dean. He then put on the cloak and disappeared from their sight.

"Dude, that is friggin' sweet!" Dean said as he went back to driving.

"Sam, I gotta climb on top of you so I can get out quickly, so you guys don't look suspicious." Harry said. Sam nodded and almost laughed when he saw his brothers face in a mask of jealousy. After a bit of struggle Harry was seated comfortably on the younger man so he could easily get out.

They pull into the drive way and Harry jumps out, freeing Sam to get out smoothly with Dean. They walked to the door and Harry held onto Dean's left forearm. Dean knocked on the door. A young girl opened the door. She looked to be 19 or 20.

"You must be Hailey Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam. We're rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over, we wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy." Dean said.

"Let me see some ID." Hailey demanded.

Dean held up the ID Harry made for them. "Here ya go."

Hailey looked at the ID through the screen door. "Come on in." She said.

Dean smiled. "Thanks"

Hailey looked at the Impala. "That yours?" She asked Dean. Harry was already starting to not like her. Mostly because of Sam's earlier comment but he wasn't going to admit that out loud. He kept holding on to Dean's arm.

Dean looked over his left shoulder to where his car was. He could feel the cloak Harry was wearing and wondered if his hair was just as silky. "Yeah." Dean said, unsure if he was answering his own question or the girl's.

"Nice car" Hailey said. Dean smiled with pride.

Sam interrupted before they started talking about mechanics or whatever. "So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" He asked

"He checks in every day by cell. He e-mails photos, stupid little videos…but we haven't heard anything in over three days now." Hailey said.

"Well maybe he can't get cell reception." Sam suggested.

"He's got a satellite phone too." Hailey said. Another boy came in.

"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Dean asked, trying to keep his mind from the younger man clinging to his arm. _I wonder if he even realizes he's still holding on to me. Not that I'm complaining._ Dean thought.

"He wouldn't do that" The young boy that just came in said defiantly.

Hailey explained. "Our parents are gone; it's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam asked.

Hailey walked over to her laptop and opened a file. "Yeah." She double clicked what looked like it was a video. "That's Tommy." She said, pressing play.

The boy in the video started talking. "Hey Hailey, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge, we're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, talk to you tomorrow."

Harry noticed Sam frowning at something in the video, he nudges Sam but he only shook his head slightly.

"Well, we'll find your brother, we're headin out to Blackwater ridge first thing." Dean said with confidence.

"Then maybe I'll see you there." Hailey said. The three men gave Hailey a look, though she only saw two of the faces. "Look. I can't sit around here anymore, so I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning and I'm gonna find Tommy myself." She said.

"I think I know how ya feel" Dean said softly, thinking about how he was looking for his dad. Harry gave his arm a light squeeze.

"Hey, you mind forwarding these to me?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Hailey said. Sam gave her his email address and then they headed out. Harry climbing over Sam's seat and sitting in the back. The two other men climbed in and as soon as they turned the corner Harry took off his cloak.

"Why don't we go for a drink?" Harry suggested.

.:~0~:.

Sam pulled out some news articles while he started talking to Dean and Harry. "So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic, local campers mostly. But still, this past April two hikers went missing out there, they were never found."

"Any before that?" Dean asked.

Going through the articles Sam started counting them off. "Yeah In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936. Every 23 years, just like clockwork."

"So what where you frowning at before? In the video Hailey showed us?" Harry asked. Dean looked at Harry confused.

Sam pulled out his laptop. "Okay watch this. Here's a clincher. I downloaded that guy, Tommy's, video to the laptop. Check this out." Sam played the video frame by frame showing a shadow run by the tent. Harry looked at Sam surprised. He didn't know there was something that could move that fast.

"Do it again." Dean said, making sure not to blink.

Sam played it again. "That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move."

"No kidding." Harry said quietly.

Dean cuffed Sam on the head. "Told ya something weird was goin on." Harry laughed.

"Yeah, you're spidey senses are spot on." He said.

"Yeah. I got one more thing. In '59 one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive." Sam said, reading an article on his computer.

"Is there a name?" Dean asked. Sam scrolled down.

"Yeah, give me a minute I'll get the address down." Sam said.

"You know? Your almost as bad as Hermione, but with a computer." Harry said. Dean laughed and Sam smacked Harry.

.:~0~:.

Dean, Sam and an invisible Harry stood outside a house waiting for someone to answer. An older looking man opened the door. Harry hung on to Dean again as they were ushered into the house.

"Mr. Shaw? We're Park rangers, we're here about what happened to you in '59?" Dean said. He made out a barely discernable 'subtle' in his ear.

Mr. Shaw looked confused. "Look ranger, I don't know why you're askin me about this. It's public record; I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a…" He trailed off.

"Grizzly?" Sam filled in. "That's what attacked them?"

The older man didn't say anything for a moment before he nodded.

"The other people that went missing that year…those bear attacks too?" Dean asked disbelieving. "What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing? If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it."

"I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make. You wouldn't believe me, nobody ever did." The man said sadly.

"Mr. Shaw, what did you see?" Sam asked gently.

"Nothing. It moved too fast to see, it hid too well. I heard it though, a roar, like…no man or animal I ever heard." He answered.

"It came at night?" Sam asked. Mr. Shaw nodded.

"Got inside your tent?"

"It got inside our cabin." He replied gruffly "I was sleepin in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door, it unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screamin."

"It killed them?" Dean asked.

"Dragged them off into the night. Why it left me alive…been askin myself that ever since." Harry felt pity for the man's survivor guilt. He knew what that felt like though. "Did leave me this though." Shaw opened his shirt collar and the three young men saw three claw marks over his chest. "There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon."

The three men left the house and when Harry made sure no one was watching he regretfully let go of Dean's arm and took off the cloak.

"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside they just go through the walls." Dean said.

"So it's probably something else, something corporeal." Sam said.

"Corporeal? Excuse me professor." Dean teased.

"Professor? Please, I learned that word when I was 15." Harry said, mocking Dean. Dean lightly hit him on the shoulder.

"So what do you think?" Sam interrupted before it turned into a flirt fest. Dean looked at Harry.

"I'd say an evil wizard but I haven't heard of anything that would make us move so fast." Harry said.

"The claws, the speed that it moves, could be a skin walker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it." Dean said.

Harry mock whispered to Sam, "I didn't know he knew what that word meant." Sam chuckled lightly and Dean mock Glared at Harry. Harry winked.

Dean went back to his car, opened the trunk, propped it up with a shotgun, and put some pistols in a duffel bag.

"We cannot let that Hailey girl go out there." Sam said suddenly.

"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" Dean asked sarcastically.

"Yeah." Sam said honestly.

Dean turned around after putting his gear away to face Sam. "Her brother's missing Sam. She's not just gonna sit this out. Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator-friend."

"Finding dad's not enough?" Sam asked as he slammed the trunk. "Now we gotta babysit too?"

Dean and Harry looked at Sam.

"What?" Sam asked, irritated.

Dean shrugged. "Nothin." He said as he went into the car. Harry smiled and followed Dean's example, Sam the last to get in.

.:~0~:.

Next morning the three men gathered their things and went on their way to find that Hailey girl and her guide. Harry made and extra ID for himself so he didn't have to hide under a cloak or charm. They pulled up and saw the girl and her brother with a man they assumed was the guide.

"You guys got room for a few more?" Dean asked as he got out of the car. Each man grabbed their pack from the backseat and walked towards the small group.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" Hailey asked.

"Who are these guys?" The guide asked. Harry already didn't like him too much. Seemed a bit cocky.

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for search and rescue." Hailey deadpanned.

"You're rangers?" Roy said, disbelieving

"Yes, sir" Harry said.

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Hailey asked Dean.

"Well sweetheart, I don't do shorts" Dean retorted cheekily. Harry snorted in amusement.

The guy turned to Harry and Dean. "What, you think this is funny? its dangerous backcountry out there, her brother might be hurt."

Dean started to step half in front of Harry. _Is he trying to protect me? _Harry thought. His lips turned to a small smile at the thought. "Believe me, I know how dangerous this could get. We just wanna help her find her brother, that's all." Dean said.

After a moment the guide turned around angrily and they started their way to find Tommy.

.:~0~:.

"Roy," Dean started. Both he and Harry were getting tired of the man. "You said you did a little hunting." It wasn't really a question.

"Yeah, more than a little" Harry rolled his eyes beside Dean.

"Uh huh…What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" Dean asked. Harry had to stifle a chuckle.

"Mostly buck sometimes bear." _Who's he trying to impress?_ Harry thought.

"Tell me, uh…Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" Dean asked. Roy turned around and grabbed Dean's shirt.

Harry put a hand on Roy's arm and in a voice that reminded Dean Harry was a war hero he asked, "What are you doing, Roy?"

Roy put a stick he was carrying in a trap. "You should watch where you're stepping…rangers"

"It's a bear trap." Dean breathed.

Hailey caught up to Harry and Dean. "You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a duffel bag. You're not rangers so who the hell are you?" She asked.

Harry looked at Dean and Dean just shrugged. "Sam and I are brothers, Harry is a close friend, and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat." Dean said.

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Hailey asked.

"I'm telling you now. Besides it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman. Ever." Dean said. Harry laughed.

"Why am I not surprised." He said. Dean nudged him and Harry just grinned.

"So we okay?" Dean asked Hailey.

She smiled looking at the two men in front of her. "Yeah, okay." She said.

"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean said as he pulled out M&Ms. Harry rolled his eyes.

"That'll keep you going." He said. Dean just smiled.

After hiking a bit more they finally made it to their destination. "This is it…Blackwater Ridge" Roy said.

"What coordinates do we have?" Sam asked hopeful.

Roy pulled out his GPS. "35-111"

"You hear that?" Dean asked.

Harry answered, "Yeah, not even crickets."

"I'm gonna take a look around." Roy said.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself." Sam said.

Roy looked at him like he was an idiot. "That's sweet…don't worry about me." He started walking away.

"That man is infuriating." Harry stated. Dean nodded in agreement.

"All right everybody stays together. Let's go." Dean said. They started to follow where they saw Roy heading.

"Hailey, over here." Roy called.

Hailey ran to where she heard the voice, the group following. They came to a camp site that was torn apart, looked like a grizzly bear got through the camp. "Oh my God" Hailey said.

"Looks like a grizzly." Roy stated.

"Tommy?" Hailey took off her backpack. "Tommy?!"

"Shh" Sam said.

Hailey was getting hysterical. "Tommy!?"

"Shhhhh" Sam said again. Harry saw that she wasn't going to shut up so he put his hand over her mouth. When he thought she calmed enough for common sense Harry let go of her mouth.

"Why?" She asked quietly. Harry was getting tired of these people. If it was still war time in England, if someone said shut up you'd shut up instantly.

"Something might still be out there." Sam said.

"Harry! Sam!" Dean called. The two men walked over to Dean. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here the tracks just vanish. That's weird. I'll tell you what…that's no skin walker or black dog." Dean and Sam went back to the camp sight and put down their bags. Harry, having been trained by the king of paranoids, kept his backpack on.

Dean saw Hailey pick up a broken cell phone that had blood splattered on it. "Hey, he could still be alive" Dean tried to reassure.

All of a sudden the group heard someone cry out. "Help!!! Help!!!" The group ran off to where they heard it, but Harry wasn't so sure they should leave their things there. He kept his pack though, and ran off with the others.

"It seemed like it was coming from around here didn't it?" Hailey asked.

Something seemed to click in Sam's head. "Everybody back to camp."

They ran back to see their camp to see their supplies gone. Harry closed his eyes. "I knew it." He muttered. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Sam. He gave him a small smile.

"Our packs" Hailey said.

"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone" Roy said irritably.

"What the hell is going on?" Hailey asked.

"It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." Harry said in a resigned tone..

"You mean someone, some nut job out there just stole all our gear." Roy said.

Sam walked with Harry to Dean. "I need to speak with you two…in private." Sam said. The three walked out of earshot. "Good. Let me see dad's journal." Dean took out a journal from his jacket pocket and handed it over to Sam. Sam flipped through it, looking for something. "Alright, check that out" Sam showed the other two a drawing of what looked like a tall mutilated man, almost.

"Oh come on, Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west." Dean said.

"Think about it Dean, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam said. Harry was still looking at the entry on wendigos.

"Great." Dean said, taking out a pistol from his jean waistline. "Well then this is useless" Sam gave back Dean their dad's journal.

"We gotta get these people to safety" Sam said. He walked back to where they left the other three, Harry and Dean right behind him. "All right listen up, time to go. Things have gotten more…complicated"

"Kid don't worry, whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." Roy said.

"Oh, please." Harry said under his breath.

"It's not me I'm worried about, if you shoot this thing you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave now." Sam said.

"One you're talking nonsense, two you're in no position to give anybody orders." Roy said, standing up to face Sam now.

"Relax" Dean said to the two men.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, alright? I'm trying to protect you." Sam said, ignoring his brother.

Roy scoffed. "You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight."

"Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here." Sam said.

Roy laughed. "You know you're crazy right?"

"Yeah? You ever hunt a win-" Sam was cut off by Roy pushing him. Dean and Harry stepped in.

"Roy!" Hailey yelled.

Dean looked at the two fighters. "Chill out." He said.

"Stop; stop it, everybody just stop. Look, Tommy might still be alive, and I'm not leaving here without him." Hailey stated.

"It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves." Dean said.

"How?" Hailey's brother asked.

"I'll make us a fire." Harry said. He looked at the brothers. "One of you should come with me to get a bit of wood and the other should stay here with them, they don't know what they're dealing with." Harry said.

Without hesitation Sam answered. "I'll stay here, Dean, you go with Harry." He said.

Dean nodded and headed off with Harry to the edge of the campsite. "So," Dean started. "why can't you just use magic to make the fire?" He asked Harry.

Harry smiled. "Oh, I'm going to, I just need enough wood so they won't suspect anything is amiss. See, we're not supposed to use magic in front of muggles. I might be able to get away with a lot, but not when it comes to telling muggles about us. That puts too many people in danger." Harry said.

Dean looked at him. "What about me and Sam? Have you gotten in trouble with whoever makes the rules?" Harry looked thoughtful for a moment.

"No I haven't. I think it's because they know that you already know about the supernatural and a bit about us, but you've never tried to hurt our kind. I think some hunters, the good ones, are the exception." Harry told him.

"oh. How do you feel about that?" Dean asked looking right at Harry.

Harry took a step closer. "I'm glad. I don't want to have to hide myself around you." He said quietly. "I rather like you, I don't fancy losing your trust." Harry leaned forward until they were an inch apart.

"Good." Dean said, his lips almost on Harry's. "Cause I like you too." He was about to kiss him when Roy called out.

"Are we getting a fire or not?" He asked.

Harry breathed out a sigh and leaned back. "I really don't like him." Harry said. They finished getting a few branches and twigs and they went back to the camp. Harry put all the wood in the middle and made a small camp fire.

"I think you're going to need more branches then that. Do you even know how to make a fire?" Roy asked. A second later, Harry had the fire going. Harry looked up at Roy with a smug smile.

"You aren't the only one whose gone camping. I wouldn't underestimate people or things. It'll be your downfall." Harry said.

"Is that a threat?" Roy asked harshly.

Dean came up behind Harry and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Consider it a friendly warning." Harry said calmly.

Roy walked away saying something about 'fire' and 'never last'.

"Thanks." Harry said quietly.

"No problem." Dean said. "I'm going to take one of your sticks and draw symbols so the wendigo can't come over and play." Harry chuckled and nodded his head while going to help Ben clear an area for sleeping near the fire.

.:~0~:.

"One more time that's…?" Hailey was asking.

"Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them." Dean answered. Roy laughed. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." He said as he finished the last symbol. Dean walked over to Sam near the edge of the campsite, Harry watching them from afar. "You wanna tell me what's goin on in that freaky head of yours?" Dean asked.

"Dean…" Sam started to say he was fine.

"No you're not fine, you're like a powder keg man it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?" Dean said with a small smile.

"Dad's not here. I mean that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?" Sam asked, unsure.

"Yeah you're probably right. To tell you the truth I don't think dad's ever been to Lost Creek." Dean admitted.

"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road, go find dad. I mean why are we still in here?" Sam asked.

Dean took out their dad's journal. "This is why… This book. This is dad's single most valuable possession everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us, I think he wants us to pick up where he left off, you know saving people, hunting things. The family business." He said.

"That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants; tell us where he is?" Sam asked, getting more and more upset.

"I dunno. But the way I see it, dad's giving us a job to do and I intend to do it." Dean said with finality.

"Dean, no. I gotta find dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." Harry walked over with a vial in his hand. He could tell his friend was on his way to getting hysterical.

"Sam, take this, it'll keep you calmer, clear your head a bit. It's only a light dose." Harry said handing the vial to Sam.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"It's a calming drought, but only a light dose to clear his head and keep him from getting hysterical." Sam nodded his thanks and drank it. He grimaced at the taste. Harry smiled. "I know, tastes better with tea or something, but I can't exactly conjure anything with those three over there, can I?"

"Ok, all right, Sam we'll find them I promise. Listen to me, you've gotta prepare yourself. I mean this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul, it's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man." Dean said. Harry put a hand on Sam's shoulder in comfort.

"How do you do it? How does dad do it?" Sam asked.

"Well for one… them." Dean said pointing to Hailey and her brother. "I mean I figure our family's so screwed to hell; maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little more bearable." Harry gave Dean a smile and for a moment, Dean couldn't breathe. But then he went on. "I'll tell you what else helps. Killing as many sons of bitches as I possibly can." He finished.

"Help me! Please! Help!"

"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put, inside the magic circle." Dean said. Harry couldn't help but laugh at the way Dean said that.

"Help! Help me!"

"Ok that's no grizzly." Roy said. The three men Rolled their eyes.

"It's ok, you'll be all right I promise." Hailey told her brother. Then she saw the wendigo and screamed.

"It's here." Sam said.

Roy shot at the creature a few times. "I hit it!" He said, then ran after it.

"Roy, no! Roy!" Dean shouted. He turned to Hailey and Ben. "Don't move." He, Sam and Harry ran after Roy.

"It's over here! It's in the tree!" They heard Roy yell. The men came just in time to see the wendigo reach down and snap Roy's neck.

"Roy!" Dean shouted. They walked back to the campsite to tell the two kids that Roy was dead.

Harry got there first, being used to camping in the woods while hunting horcruxes. He looked at the two youngest in the group and shook his head. Hailey had tears going down her face, Ben hugged his sister. Dean and Sam entered the camp next.

"We're going to sleep here for the night. Sam, Harry and I will take turns watching over the site. Let's get some rest. We've got an early morning tomorrow." He said. Harry went through his backpack and pulled out four blankets.

"Okay, I got four blankets, two go on the ground as sheets and the other two as blankets." Harry set it up to make it look like two beds. "Hailey and Ben, you guys can share one so we don't wake you up when we rotate shifts." The two nodded and crawled into their makeshift bed quietly. When the two went to sleep, Harry cast a tempus charm. "Okay, it's about 10 o'clock." Harry said.

"We should let them sleep until eight." Sam said. The other two looked at him. "They aren't used to this, they just found out that these creatures are real and it killed their guide." Harry nodded in agreement. "alright, so I'll take the first shift, Dean, you take the second, and Harry since you're up early anyways, you take the last. We'll do three hours each, Harry wake us up at seven and we'll all watch and pack up for the last hour." Sam said. The other two agreed and Sam went to sit on a tree stump while the other two crawled into their makeshift bed.

A couple minutes after being in bed, and Dean knowing his brother was looking elsewhere, Dean decided to cuddle up to Harry. He put one arm around his waist and pulled him closer with his other arm wrapped around the younger boy's chest. Harry smiled and put his back into Dean's chest.

"Comfortable?" Harry asked. Dean put a light kiss on the back of Harry's neck.

"Mhmm. Are you?" He asked quietly.

"Very." Harry answered, starting to fall asleep.

.:~0~:.

At seven in the morning Harry quietly woke Sam and Dean and they went around the camp packing everything useful. Before they finished Hailey and Ben woke up. Sam was sitting in the watch area playing with a bracelet he got from Jess.

"I don't…I mean these types of things they aren't supposed to be real." Hailey said to no one in particular.

"I wish I could tell you different." Dean said as he helped Harry put the blankets away. Harry gave him a mock glare. "For the most part." Dean added quietly. Harry grinned.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Hailey asked. Dean looked at Harry, asking if he could tell her about his sensing. He shook his head.

"We don't. But we're safe for now." Dean said.

"How do you know about this stuff?" Hailey decided to ignore the interaction between the two men.

"Kind of runs in the family." Dean said. She looked at Harry for his answer.

"Same thing, different circumstances." Before she could question what he meant Sam spoke.

"Hey. So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I, for one, want to kill this evil SOAB" He said.

"Well hell, you know I'm in." Dean said with a grin. Harry nodded his agreement.

"Wendigo is a –Indian word. It means evil that devours." Sam said.

"They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, other times a frontiersman or a miner or a hunter." Dean told Hailey and Ben.

"How does a man turn into one of those things?" Hailey questioned.

"Well it's always the same. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp." Dean supplied.

"Like the Donnor Party." Ben added.

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality." Sam stated.

"If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry" Dean said. Harry shivered at the thought of eating human flesh. Dean threw him a concerned look but he waved it off.

"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Hailey asked softly.

"You're not going to like it." Harry warned.

"Tell me." Hailey demanded.

Dean sighed. "More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It uh, stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden and safe. We gotta track it back there." He told her.

"And then how do we stop it?" Hailey asked, determination on her face.

"Well guns are useless so are knives, basically," Dean said pulling out lighter fluid. "we gotta torch the sucker." He finished.

They finished packing and started to track it to where Harry last sensed it. They saw claw marks and started following them. Harry stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sam, Dean." He said.

"What is it?" Dean asked. He looked at all the trees with claw marks and blood and broken branches.

"I was thinking…those claw marks…so clear and distinct, they are almost too easy to follow." Harry said. They heard the wendigo growl and they all started to back up. Hailey backed up into a tree and felt something dripping on her. She looked up to see Roy's dead body in the tree. She screamed as it fell, almost hitting her.

Sam and Harry ran over to her to see if she was okay. "You okay?" Sam asked.

Dean looked around. "Okay run, run, run, run, go, go!" He yelled. Everyone ran back the way they came. Ben fell and Harry and Sam ran to grab him and help him up.

"Come on, I gotcha, we gotcha." Sam said. When Ben got back up they heard a scream.

"Hailey!?" Ben yelled.

Sam ran to where they were last while Harry followed with Ben. Sam picked up what looked like a piece of Dean's shirt. "Dean!!!" He turned to look at Harry. "Can you find him?" Harry thought for a minute.

"I think so." Harry turned to Ben. "What I'm going to do you can't tell anyone about, because no one's supposed to know. If you tell someone, I'll get in trouble, ok?" He asked the kid. Ben nodded. Harry flicked his wrist and his wand slipped into his hand. He laid it in his right palm and said quietly, "Point me Dean Winchester." The wand spun and pointed ahead of the group of three.

Ben stared at the wand. "What was that?" He asked as Harry put his wand away.

"Magic." Harry said with a smile. "I'm a wizard. But remember you can't tell anyone because I'll get in a bit of trouble."

"Ok. that is so cool though." Harry smiled. He would've laughed at the awe on Ben's face if the situation wasn't so serious. Ben got serious again. "If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asked them.

"Honestly, I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off." Sam said.

Ben found a trail of M&Ms. "I think They went this way" He said, handing an M&M he picked up to Sam.

Sam laughed. "It's better than bread crumbs." He said.

"More exact then my point me spell, that's for sure." Harry commented. Sam, Ben and Harry followed the trail to a tunnel entrance. Harry did a point me spell for Dean to make sure he was in there, and they went in.

They heard a growl so Sam Pushed Ben against the wall, Harry following. They saw the wendigo coming towards them, Ben almost screamed but Sam covered his mouth with his hand. The wendigo took a different tunnel so they continued walking. They walked a few yards when the floor broke and the three fell into the hole surrounded by skeletons.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay." Sam said to Ben. Harry looked up and saw Hailey and Dean Hanging from the ceiling. Harry ran to Dean.

"Dean!" Harry said, getting the attention of Sam and Ben. Ben ran to Hailey, while Sam ran to Dean.

"Hailey wake up!" Ben said.

Sam grabbed Dean and shook him. "Dean!" Dean opened his eyes. "Hey, you okay?" Sam asked.

Dean winced. "Yeah."

"Hailey, wake up, wake up." Ben said. Hailey opened her eyes slowly.

Harry flicked his wrist, cutting them down. "You're sure you're all right?" Harry asked, worried.

Dean grimaced in pain. "Yeah. Yep, where is he?"

"He's gone for now." Sam said.

Hailey saw her brother hanging from the ceiling and started to cry. "Tommy." She said. Tommy jerked awake and startles a scream from Hailey. "Cut him down." She said to Sam. Sam cut him down. "We're gonna get you home." She told her brother.

Dean was loading a gun in the corner. "Check it out." He said to Harry and Sam.

"Flare guns" Harry said.

"…those'll work." Sam added. Dean laughed and twirled the guns. The six of them headed down the tunnel, Hailey and Harry supporting Tommy in the middle. They heard the wendigo growl.

"Looks like someone's home for supper." Dean said.

"We'll never outrun it." Hailey said, getting scared.

Dean looked at Sam. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah I think so." Sam said. Harry clued in.

"That might work." Harry said. The brothers looked at him, surprised. Harry looked at them. "Try to remember who you're talking to." He deadpanned.

"All right listen to me. Stay with Sam and Harry, They're gonna get you out of here." Dean told the three kids.

"What are you gonna do?" Hailey asked. Dean winked and started walking forward.

"Be careful." Harry said quietly.

"Chow time you freaky bastard! Yeah that's right, bring it on baby, I'm feelin good." Dean started shouting.

"All right come on. Hurry!" Sam said, going the opposite way of Dean

"Hey! Hey you want some white meat bitch!? I'm right here!" They heard Dean yell. They heard the wendigo growl by them.

"Get him outta here." Sam told Hailey.

"Sam, no." Hailey protested.

"Now's not the time." Harry said to her. He helped the three start out of the cave.

Sam pulled out a gun, getting ready to shoot. "Come on. Come on." He heard a growl from the other side of the tunnel. Sam turned to see the wendigo in his face. Sam shot at it, but missed he ran down the tunnel after Harry and the others.

"Sam!" Harry yelled

"Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry." The group ran to the end of the tunnel, Harry sent a subtle bit of magic to slow the wendigo down. "Get behind me." Sam ordered. The three youngest got behind while Harry stood beside him in a defensive position. He flicked his wrist for his wand.

Dean came up behind the wendigo just when Harry was going to flame it. "Hey!" Dean shouted. The wendigo turned and he shot it in the stomach. The creature burst into flame. "Not bad, huh?" Dean said. Dean walked with the group, leaning on Harry for support.

They were walking through the forest back to the Impala When Dean asked Harry and Sam something that was bugging him. "When you guys ran from the wendigo, how did it not catch up? They're supposed to be super fast." He said.

Harry answered. "There's a spell used to slow down one's attacker. Can't stop it completely but you're able to slow them down enough to get away or think of a counter-curse or whatever. Though I had to keep reapplying it 'because it only lasts for a certain amount of time." He told them.

Sam stared at him. "Jeez you must be tired then, to slow it down that much more than once." Harry shrugged. "Another thing, how did you know, exactly, what we were planning?" Sam asked him.

"Please, you're talking to the leader of a war whose best friend was a strategist. I got used to the kind of plans he came up with and I could tell by the look on his face what it would entail." Harry said.

They got to where they last left the Impala and everyone got in. The three kids were in the backseat and Sam was driving because Dean was to hurt. Harry sat on Dean in the passenger seat and they made their way to the ranger station.

Once there they had an ambulance come tend to them and police come to interview them.

A police man was interviewing Ben and Hailey walked up to where Dean and Harry were standing by Dean's car.

"So I don't know how to thank you." Hailey said.

Dean waved her off. "This is what we do." He told her.

An ambulance lady walked up to them. "You riding with your brother?" She asked Hailey.

"Yeah." Hailey said. She called to Ben. "Let's go."

Ben and Sam nodded to each other and Hailey said thanks to Sam when she passed him. Before she got in the truck she turned towards them. "I hope you find your father." She said. She and Ben got in the ambulance and they drove off.

"Man I hate camping" Dean said.

"Me too." Sam agreed. They looked at Harry.

Harry shrugged. "Meh, I'm used to it." They looked at him with disbelieving faces. "What? I had to camp for a year and make sure my tracks were covered so I didn't get discovered by a megalomaniac. Though yes, my tent was nicer than usual, thanks to magic." Harry said with a smile.

"Sam, you know we're gonna find dad, right?" Dean said as Harry got into the backseat.

"Yeah I know…" Sam said. "but in the mean time…I'm driving." Dean tossed him the keys and got into the passenger side, shaking his head.

"Better not scratch my baby." Dean told Sam.

"Yeah, Yeah." Sam replied.

.:~0~:.

**AN: Love it? Hate it? Let me know.**


	6. IMPORTANT

IMPORTANT NOTE

I have had my computer taken away so I won't be able to write for atleast another 6 months.  if anyone wishes to adopt this story or any of my others go right on ahead. I won't be able to message anyone or tell who will adopt because I wont be on the computer at all so the first person to put in a review they want to adopt gets it.

It's been fun. See you all in 6-12 months

~Gabi


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